100-Shot Challenge
by xAccalia17x
Summary: I have taken up Prin Pardus's 100 Shot Challenge. Let's see how far I can get :)


1. **Injured**

* * *

The daylight was slowly fading into the shadows. The cardinals, herons, and any other species of birds living in the marshlands deep into the territory were quieting down until there was almost a dead silence. The squirming and chattering of the smaller forest creatures grew dim as they settled down in their protective burrows. Up above, the branches swayed to a halt, all breeze cut off. The sky was no longer a bright blue, but different shades of orange, red, and whites.

In the evening, all slowed to an almost halt. Almost.

Above the noises of the frogs and crickets, a shrill scream echoed through the woodland territory, bouncing off the trees like raindrops on a leaf. The sound was not quiet, and there was no mistaking the urgency in it. There was no chance to think about it who had made that sound, because another shrill scream broke the almost-silence once more.

In a leaf-filled clearing where the ground had been pounded down by many paw-steps, a dark tabby she-cat crouched, her teeth and unsheathed claws catching the last rays of the sunlight. Her muscles tensed and un-tensed, her steady eyes never breaking the contact she had with the creature before her. It was another feline, of course, but a pure-black tom with eyes that shone with bitterness and hatred.

"Hollowpaw! Watch out!" A shout behind the she-cat cut her attention and the black tom in front of her lunged, not wasting any precious time. Gasping, Hollowpaw swerved, her paws skidding on loose leaves as she tried to get out of the cats' path. It seemed to work just fine. The black tom landed exactly where she had been just heartbeats before. Again, her attention slipped as she tried to remember who had called out to her and why.

A sharp jolt of pain in her left back-leg gave her all the answers she needed. _These cowards just don't fight fair!_ Twisting the top half of her body, Hollowpaw spun around and lifted a paw while showing fangs and claws and brought a deep slash across the other cats' muzzle. The cat yowled in pain, releasing her leg. She quickly brought herself upright, wincing as she glanced at the blood rolling down to the forest floor. Now was no time to be worried about one injury, however, because a much more painful blow surfaced on the top of her head which brought the ground swirling upwards at a fast pace.

Despite the painful blow and her throbbing head, Hollowpaw quickly rolled over, but a heavy weight pinned her to the ground. "Looks like RiverClan can barely teach their apprentices to defend themselves." A menacing voice growled above her. With the darkening shadows and dim light, Hollowpaw had to stare at the face for longer than she wanted to, trying to figure out who exactly was attacking her. The stench rolling of his pelt confirmed it was ShadowClan. _What does their stupid leader want this time? S_he thought as she brought her back paws up into the tom's stomach, relentlessly clawing his underbelly until the grip loosened and she was able to throw him to the side.

A grunt and a thump nearby caught Hollowpaw's attention. Looking up, she narrowed her eyes in triumph as she saw the well-known ShadowClan deputy, Pinethicket, being pinned under Tanglestripe's large frame. She smirked and turned away; Tanglestripe could handle his own battles. She turned around as the same cat who was biting at her leg jumped on her, bowling her over. Squirming, Hollowpaw snarled and spat at the rounded muzzle that was laced with light grey spots. A second voice reached her ears and she recognized the second tom that had originally pinned her.

"You just don't know how when to leave, do you?" The black tom snickered. His fangs glistened with the faint color of red..._blood!_ _Did this cat kill someone?_ The question rushed through Hollowpaw's mind as she struggled even more, but she was no match for the weight of a seasoned warrior.

"Wingshadow! That's enough!" Both toms glanced up and Hollowpaw stopped struggling long enough to glance in the direction of where the yowl had come from. Silverheart, RiverClan's deputy, stood a few fox-lengths away with Duskstorm, Leafspirit, and Spottedsky lined up behind her. All bore the wounds of the battle, but their eyes still shone with the heat the anticipation. "Darkpath, I expected you to know better than to gang up on an apprentice." Silverheart spoke again, her muscles rippling as she stalked forward.

Wingshadow, the grey-speckled tom immediately released his hold on Hollowpaw. Sighing in relief, Hollowpaw drew in a few ragged breaths before attempting to stand up. Not only could she not stand, she cried out in shock as pain laced its way through a majority of her body. She fell back to the ground in a crumpled heap, trying to think of what she had done to cause this much pain. Her eyesight had blurred over, so she let them shut her vision into darkness. _Those fox-hearted cowards! _She cursed.

"This battle is over. Get back to your pitiful Clan!" Silverheart snarled and Hollowpaw heard the sound of paw-steps retreating. She realized the clearing had become much more quiet, with only RiverClan to look over the wounded and figure out what had just happened. ShadowClan had attacked in RiverClan territory. This was no border dispute; it was more like a war. But for what cause?

"Hollowpaw." A gentle whisper came from above her and she cracked her right eye open. Ripplesky, RiverClan's medicine cat, stood above her glancing over her body with what seemed like a worried expression. "Here, eat these." Two small black seeds were dropped next to her muzzle and she recognized them as poppy seeds. Shrugging, Hollowpaw licked them up. She closed her eyes just as sleep was breaking over her. She could barely feel herself being lifted and carried back to the camp, which wasn't too far away, thank StarClan.

* * *

The sweet and bitter scents of herbs was what awakened Hollowpaw. Blinking her eyes a few times to adjust to the difference in light, she raised her head to figure out where she was. Obviously in the medicine den and by the looks of it, not alone either. Three other forms lay in curled balls as they slept in their make-shift nests. She made out the dappled form of Morningfur and the sleek pelt of Stonecloud. The third figure was another apprentice, Shadowpaw. _ShadowClan must have done some damage for there to be some many badly injured, _Hollowpaw thought with a sigh.

"Good, you're awake at last." Ripplesky's sweet voice registered in her ears, breaking the tense silence. Twisting her head, Hollowpaw could just make out the medicine cat in the back, sorting through herbs. Hollowpaw opened her mouth to ask something but Ripplesky just glanced up with a slight purr. "You're lucky to be alive, actually. Those were deep wounds you had."

Hollowpaw took a moment to glance over her own coat. There were plenty of herb mixtures plastered here and there, especially on her back-leg where Darkpath had bitten down. She felt more sticky mixtures just below her throat, and she ran her tongue along the scarce fur. It was now obvious that was what had caused her so much pain after the battle.

"You lost a lot of blood and it'll take some time to heal up before you can continue your duties." Ripplesky added, padding closer with a mouse in her jaws. She dropped it at Hollowpaw's paws and glanced behind her at Shadowpaw's sleeping form. "Shadowpaw is another story however..."

"What's wrong with Shadowpaw?" Hollowpaw ventured as she took a bite of her mouse. Shadowpaw was her brother and as much of a show-off as he was, he was a skilled fighter. His mentor, Sparrowbreath, trained him hard and long each day ever since they were made apprentices, and the results were obvious. While Hollowpaw's frame was smaller and more slender, Shadowpaw had a muscular build like an average warrior. He carried himself with pride and despite his teasing of younger cats, his heart was in the right place. To see him almost out cold was almost chilling.

Ripplesky stood and padding to Shadowpaw's side, stroking his shoulder with her tail. Her voice was sad when she replied, "He has a strong infection. I've done all I can, but it's up to StarClan now."

Hollowpaw coughed, almost choking on the piece of meat that she forced down her throat. "What?" She exclaimed, almost leaping to her paws. The edges of her vision blurred with black as the pain she felt earlier returned. She let herself slump back into the nest, her face scrunched up with pain. "Shadowpaw can't die! He just can't! He's my brother!" She wailed like a lost kit without its mother.

_He can't die! He just can't!_

* * *

**I have taken up Prin Pardus's 100 Shot Challenge. Mainly because I get bored very easily with my writing, so having a theme to follow gives some imagination. All the characters are OC's, none are from the books. I'll be creating the other three Clans as well, so not every POV will take place in RiverClan. **

**If you have name suggestions, please PM me them, I might just include your OC in some of my stories :) **

**R&R :) **

**~xAccalia17x**


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